Monster Winter Storm Cripples U.S. Air Travel, Thousands of Flights Canceled

A powerful winter storm sweeping across the United States brought air travel to a near standstill, with airlines canceling and delaying thousands of flights as freezing rain, heavy snowfall, and low visibility battered major hubs. By late Monday, nearly 19% of scheduled U.S. flights had been canceled, while more than 6,500 were delayed, according to aviation data providers. The disruption followed a record 11,000 cancellations on Sunday — the highest single-day total since the pandemic — as the storm dumped up to a foot of snow from New Mexico to New England and caused at least 18 deaths. Extreme cold conditions are expected to linger through the week in several regions.

Major carriers struggled to manage the fallout, with American Airlines reporting the highest number of disruptions, including over 1,100 cancellations and a similar number of delays. The storm affected five of its nine hub airports, including Dallas–Fort Worth, where ice and freezing temperatures forced ground stops. Boston Logan International Airport recorded the nation’s highest cancellation rate at 71%. Other heavily impacted airlines included Republic Airways, JetBlue, and Delta, while United Airlines said it had begun restoring operations after significantly reducing its cancellations from the previous day. The Federal Aviation Administration warned of continuing weather-related impacts in key air traffic corridors such as Boston and the New York area.

The financial toll of the storm is expected to be severe, with preliminary estimates placing economic losses between $105 billion and $115 billion, potentially making it the costliest weather event since the early-2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Airline networks, which rely on tightly coordinated aircraft and crew schedules, face ongoing recovery challenges as displaced planes and personnel complicate efforts to normalize operations. As of early Tuesday, hundreds of additional flights had already been canceled, signaling that the ripple effects of the storm on U.S. aviation are far from over.

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